Enville (St. Mary)

ENVILLE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Seisdon, S. division of the hundred of Seisdon and of the county of Stafford, 5½ miles (W. N. W.) from Stourbridge; containing 814 inhabitants. The parish comprises 4949a. 1r. 38p., mostly arable, of which the soil is of various quality, but generally good; 150 acres are wood, and 520 common land or waste. The surface is beautifully undulated; and from the elevation of the ground, the air is extremely healthy and salubrious, drawing numerous parties of pleasure to the place. There is a red sandstone-quarry. Enville Hall, the seat of the Earl of Stamford and Warrington, has belonged to his lordship's family more than two centuries; it has been enlarged and modernised, but retains much of its original character: the lawn rises boldly to the left, and is adorned by a charming lake, from the side of which a path leads through a shrubbery to a fine cascade, formed by the celebrated Shenstone, who designed the whole of the scenery, which is now ornamented by a small chapel dedicated to his memory. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £27. 2. 11., and in the gift and incumbency of the Rev. C. Jesson: the tithes have been commuted for £912. 12. 6., and the glebe consists of 121 acres, with a house. The church is an ancient edifice with a square tower: it contains many ancient monuments; and in 1762 a stone coffin, inscribed Rogerus de Morf, was dug up under the west end. Funds have been left for the education of children, and there is a day and Sunday school.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, 7th edition, published in 1848.